April 14, 2008

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The Canadian Labour Congress Looks at the Economy: A report by the Chief Economist of the Canadian Labour Congress finds that although Canada is experiencing low unemployment and a tight job market workers are not benefiting with increased wages.

Link: An Update on Canada's Two Economies - Implications for Workers and for Monetary Policy, by Andrew Jackson, Chief Economist Canadian Labour, Canadian Labour Congress, April 8, 2008 (9 pages, PDF)

Innovative Workplace Practices: Human Resource and Social Development Canada, which publishes the Workplace Bulletin has released its annual overview of innovative workplace practices.

Employee Benefits Trends: The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company has released its sixth annual report on trends in employee benefit plans. The report found that workers in the United States are concerned about their financial security and want employers' advice on issues ranging from financial planning for retirement to making informed decisions about company benefits.

Link: Study of Employee Benefits Trends: Findings from the National Survey of Employers and Employees, Sixth Annual, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York , April 2008 (65 pages,PDF)

Obesity and Employee Wellness Programs: A report from the Conference Board, New York, looks at employer responses to obesity. The report includes three case studies of companies that have targeted obesity in their wellness programs.

Link: Weights & Measures: What Employers Should Know about Obesity, by Linda Barrington, Barbara Rosen, The Conference Board New York, April 2008, (38 pages, PDF) accessible to the University of Toronto community at the Conference Board of Canada's e-Library (scroll down toRecently Released Reports)

CPRN JobQuality Website: The Canadian Policy Research Networks' has redesigned its JobQuality website. The website provides information on job quality indicators such as job satisfaction and work-life balance; news articles and reports on job quality; interviews with human resource practitioners and labour representatives; and on-line surveys findings.

Ontario College Graduates Find Success in the Job Market: According to statistics released by Colleges Ontario more than 90 per cent of recent college graduates who entered the labour force found employment within six months. As well 93 per cent of surveyed employers expressed satisfaction with graduates hired within the past year.

Sustainable Prosperity for Canada: In January 2007, The Conference Board of Canada released the final report of The Canada Project, Mission Possible: Sustainable Prosperity for Canada. A follow up report has now been released that provides updates on the progress of the broad directions that public policy took during 2007.

European Free Trade Association: In January 2008, Canada signed a free trade agreement with Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, a group collectively known as the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). This is the first agreement to be tabled in the House of Commons under the federal government's new policy of allowing Members of Parliament the opportunity to review and debate international treaties by tabling those treaties in the House of Commons. The House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade took the opportunity to conduct hearings on this agreement.

Gender Differences in Europe's Employed: Data from recent Eurostat publications show that despite some convergence in employment patterns between women and men, considerable gender differences remain in relation to work. Women have caught up in educational qualifications and increased their employment rate, but family responsibilities are still the main reason for women's above average inactivity rate. Women also continue to be more concentrated in certain economic sectors.

Link: Working in Europe: Gender Differences, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, April 14, 2008 (14 pages, PDF)

Statistics Canada Releases:

An Index of Community Vulnerability: Conceptual Framework and Application to Population and Employment Changes, by Alessandro Alasia, Ray D. Bollman, John Parkins and Bill Reimer, Statistics Canada, April 14, 2009, (66 pages, PDF)

This paper develops a conceptual and operational framework for the analysis of community socio-economic vulnerability. Vulnerability is defined as the likelihood of a worsening of socio-economic conditions for the community.

Thanks largely to the money earned from resources, Canada was able to overcome several obstacles to steady economic growth. These hurdles included the slowing US economy and the credit squeeze in global financial markets.

Creative Input: The Role of Culture Occupations in the Economy During the 1990s, by Michael Schimpf, Statistics Canada, April 10, 2008 (31 pages, PDF)

This study analyzes the extent to which culture workers were employed outside of culture industries during the 1990s, for example in manufacturing industries or business services.

This study examines the completion and discontinuation trends in apprenticeship programs for the 1993 cohort of newly registered apprentices over an eleven year period. The purpose of this study is to provide measures of completion of apprenticeship programs and information on the learning paths of the apprentices. It covers three jurisdictions: New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta.

The deterioration of immigrants' entry earnings in Canada over the past three decades has been well documented. This study provides further insights into the changing fortunes of immigrants by focusing on their earnings inequality and earnings instability. In addition to constructing earnings inequality and earnings instability profiles for different arrival cohorts, the paper also examines the underlying causes of earnings inequality, including the impact of foreign education, birthplace and the ability to speak English or French.